


Nightmares and Coping Methods

by AfterTheTempest (orphan_account)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: AH OT6, M/M, Michael has bad dreams, Multi, Nightmares, OT6, he also just basically feels like the guys dont love him, michael also throws up, not too bad of violence but its there, self hate SLIGHT tw??, so yeah tw, some violence in them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2018-02-06 10:17:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1854373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/AfterTheTempest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Michael wakes up at 3:43 am, shaking and sweating. He hasn't talked about it much and the guys don't push. They just want him to feel safe and loved.</p><p>But that might take a bit of convincing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares and Coping Methods

**Author's Note:**

> Requested anonymously on tumblr: "Ah ot6 Michael has nightmares"
> 
> Supposed to be a nice short practice for me!
> 
> (My tumblr is agt-wash and I'll probably take any RVB or RT people prompts shippy or not if they're shorter!)

Michael stumbled out of bed and ambled down the hall, stumbling steps made echoing sounds at awkward intervals. At 26 he sat alone on the bathroom floor, holding back tears. His shoulders shook slightly as the cold, tiled floor pressed against him uncomfortably. A sob escaped his mouth suddenly and it echoed. 

The bathroom was suddenly too bright for 2:44 am and he pulled himself towards the toilet, promptly throwing up dinner until he was left, dry heaving, stomach clenched tightly. A pained noise escaped him and honestly at this point he couldn't tell how loud he was being.

"Michael?" He heard a tap at the slightly opened door and Ryan peeked in. His hair was a mess and shorts hung low on his waist, without a shirt because Texas was too hot sometimes. "Are you okay? Got a fever?"

"No.." Michael choked out, gripping at the toilet tightly. "Can't sleep, f-felt sick." He felt his stomach roll again as he replayed the dream in his head. 

_Everything was blurry? Why is it blurry? Is that Ray? Ryan? Hey gu- Holy fuck, shit, shit, shit. Can a body really produce that much blood? That's a whole lot of blood. Ryan? Ray? Fuck. Fuck. Fu-_

"..nightmare?" Ryan's voice was quiet as he grabbed a washcloth, dampening it. He lowered into a crouch beside Michael, gently setting a hand on his shoulder. "I can get Geoff? Or-"

"Fuck n-no. I just.." The curly-haired man sighed in defeat, raising his head and letting Ryan wipe at his mouth as well as flush the toilet. "I j-just.."

"Hey, it's okay. Just calm down." Michael noted that he started shaking again. He watched as Ryan dropped the washcloth in the sink, to be dealt with later before leaning down to pull Michael up. "Let's just go lay down."

"F-Fine." The younger gave in, letting Ryan wrap an arm around his shoulders, stepping out of the bathroom where they met eyes with Gavin. Michael nearly cringed as he was thrown into a dream he'd had the previous week.

_What the fuck Gavin? What do you mean by that? They've all said they wanted me here! Don't fucking lie to me! Don't you fucking da-_

"Michael?" The Brit's voice made Michael flinch and the taller noted that, gently pulling the older into a hug. "What's wrong?"

"G-Gav?" Michael pressed his face into Gavin's bony shoulder, hoping for the dull pain of that to erase his nightmares. "Do you love me?" The older felt the taller flinch at the question and hold Michael tighter.

"Yes, yes, of course Michael. What's wrong? Has something happened?" The tone of Gavin's voice nearly made Michael collapse, it was utterly lost. Hell, the younger seemed to be downright scared, concerned, Michael winced.

"I-I.." Michael hiccuped, a few tears leaking out to wet Gavin's shirt at the shoulder. He felt Ryan gently pull both younger men into a bigger hug. 

"Nightmares," was all the man said and Gav didn't need anything else to be said. He pressed soft kisses in Michael's hair. "Let's get to bed you two." Ryan's soft voice brought them back to reality as they slowly made their way back into the bedroom. Ray and Jack both sat up, the smaller in the larger's lap, both were missing their glasses and looked like they were ready to just fall asleep. Geoff sat up, rubbing his at his eyes as the three entered the room, Michael sniffling. 

"Shh, Michael, it's okay." Ray crawled into Michael's lap after he was seated on the bed, placing a soft kiss to his nose. "We're here, okay?" Gavin sat beside Michael on the middle of the bed and Jack sat to Michael's other side. Jack's arm wrapped around Michael's softly shaking shoulders. Geoff sat behind him, gently playing with his hair to calm him. Ryan sat in front of him, helping Ray to brush away tears. Suddenly he was thrown back to his worst nightmare.

_Geoff's body lay in a heap next to Michael who was desperately trying to stop Jack's bleeding. Ray's sobs seemed to echo in his head and Gavin brokenly called his name. He was breathing heavily, looking around, unable to find them. Ryan's screams were too loud in his head and suddenly Jack felt cold. Michael's eyes welled with tears and he was unable to see clearly. He could only hear. All he heard though were the pained noises of the last of the people he loved dying. If it fucking hurt losing one lover it was amplified as all five were snatched away from him. Oh god. Oh god. Oh g-_

"Michael!" Ray held his face tightly, eyes wide with fear. All Michael could process was that his chest heaved with each breath and tears slipped down his freckled cheeks. He felt soft breaths as Geoff whispered ' _we love you'_ 's against his hair.

"S-Sorry." Michael choked out and he heard Gavin sigh, leaning over to press his forehead to Michael's temple.

"I love you."

At that point Michael couldn't distinguish who'd said that.

* * *

Michael woke up on Saturday to an ache in his head and Ray curled up to his side. He heard the shower running and Geoff talking to Gavin downstairs. Soon Jack poked his head into the room and smiled gently at the freckled man.

"Do you mind waking Ray up? Geoff's making lunch." The taller man then left the room to knock on the bathroom door, giving Ryan an annoyed 'hurry up'.

Michael took a moment to shake Ray and rub his head. The younger rubbed his eyes and groaned, only smiling sleepily when Michael kissed his head before crawling out of bed. The curly-haired man still felt himself shiver at the thought of all his dreams. But when he finally walked downstairs and was met with a table seating his boyfriends he felt a small grin creep onto his face.

Sleeping still brought on nightmares, nights shaking in the bathroom, nights spent being held. But he felt a bit braver because he was fucking loved. They made sure he knew that through small favors and extra kisses. Whenever he wound up shaking and crying he always ended up in someone's arms and he felt himself feeling better. During those late nights he started to stop hating himself. He started to believe he mattered. He was falling in love all over again with five men who weren't near perfect. But they damn tried.So Michael made sure not to let them go. Slowly he opened up more, showing more emotion, giving back to the five men who gave him so much love.

That's the thing with change. It's going to take time. And Michael was willing to give up some of his to get better.

 


End file.
